CHINESE MANUFACTURING CONTINUES TO CONTRACT

Published 9:48 pm, Sunday, May 4, 2014

Economists polled by Bloomberg were looking for a reading of 48.3. And the number is down from the flash reading of 48.3, but up from 48.0 in March.

A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

Production at Chinese manufacturers fell for the third straight month, but as a slower pace. Meanwhile, staffing levels were cut for the sixth straight month and at a faster pace, “amid reports of company down-sizing policies which stemmed from lower production requirements.”

“The latest data implied that domestic demand contracted at a slower pace, but remained sluggish,” said Hongbin Qu, HSBC chief economist for China. “Meanwhile, both the new export orders and employment sub-indices contracted, and were revised down from the earlier flash readings. These indicate that the manufacturing sector, and the broader economy as a whole, continues to lose momentum.”

Beijing announced a mini-stimulus to help stabilize growth and this is expected to have improved business sentiment.

China’s official manufacturing PMI number climbed to 50.4. The HSBC survey has a smaller sample than the official number and is more tilted towards small and medium enterprises.